Goodbye
by Goddess Isa
Summary: After GD2 ends. then what?!


TITLE: Goodbye  
AUTHOR: Goddess Isa   
EMAIL: goddessisa@aol.com  
SUMMARY: After GD2 ends. then what?!  
SPOILER: Graduation Day Part Two  
DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just email me & lmk where it's going - I like seeing my name in print =)  
FEEDBACK: Please, I'd hate to have to Slay for it. =P  
RATING: TV-14   
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, Joss Whedon does. If he ever decides to give them to me, that would be nice. =)   
  
  
  
"Well, the van, is here!" Willow said when they approached it. She sort of hoped no one would get in besides her and Oz. There were condom wrappers scattered along the back where Xander always sat and she wasn't sure where it was but her bra was missing...   
  
"I've got my car," Cordy said. "So Xander, Buffy, I'll drive you home."   
  
Buffy gave her a strange look. Since when does Cordelia offer anything without getting something in return?   
  
"It's grad night!" Xander said. "Aren't we supposed to party like it's 1999?"   
  
"It is," Oz said quietly.   
  
"I'm too tired to party." Buffy said.   
  
"I think graduation was all the partying we can take for a century." Willow said. She took Oz's keys out of her pocket and handed them to him. She hoped no one noticed that a condom flew out with them.   
  
"My mom still wants all of you at my house for lunch tomorrow. If she comes home." Buffy shrugged.   
  
"Did you call her?" Will asked.   
  
Buffy nodded. "All she could do was gush about my graduating and say how sorry she was she missed it. She wants to hang my diploma in her office."   
  
"At least your mom cares that you graduated." Xander said.   
  
"Same here," Oz added.   
  
"No you guys, it's better that they didn't come." Buffy said. "They could've been hurt, or worse."   
  
"Like Percy," Willow said solemnly. "I need to call the hospital and see how he is."   
  
"He's alive," Cordy said. "That's more than we can say for some of us."   
  
Everyone thought of Harmony and Larry and Buffy touched Cordy's arm.   
  
"There's no love lost over Snyder." Xander said.   
  
"I think some people cheered." Oz added.   
  
"Really?" Buffy asked.   
  
"Hard to tell. It could've been screams of blood curdling fear as well."   
  
"I guess losing Snyder was the one moment of glee at graduation."   
  
Everyone stared at her.   
  
"What? I can't be happy that he won't bother us anymore? I mean, I'm not happy he died, 'cause you know, bad, but better him that one of us."   
  
"That lady has a point." Xander said.   
  
Cordelia glanced at her watch. No one knew it, but she had a plane to catch. "I, um, have something to do, so can we go?"   
  
Oz put an arm around Willow and winked at her. She smiled at him, knowing what they were planning to go do. "Yeah, I should get home too and call my parents. I'll lie profusely about what we did today and then go to bed and have nightmares about it."   
  
Buffy and Willow hugged and the trio waited for Willow and Oz to take off before heading for Cordy's car.   
  
"Ten to one odds what they're doin' at the next red light." Cordelia said in a grossed out voice. Buffy remained silent and Xander snorted.   
  
"Shotgun!" Buffy called when they reached the car.   
  
"No fair!" Xander made a face.   
  
Cordy pressed the button on her keychain and let them in, Xander grumbling all the way. She noticed no one questioned why she was driving her grandmother's Escort instead of her own car.   
  
"Cordelia, whose car is this?" Buffy asked.   
  
Thought too soon, Cordy cursed herself. "It's my grandmother's. Mine's in the shop."   
  
"It's nice."   
  
"Thanks," Cordy mumbled. She caught Xander's eye in the mirror and he was giving her a sympathetic look. One that made her want to puke.   
  
Buffy turned the radio in and tried to tune something other than ballroom music in.   
  
"Can we turn it off?" Cordy asked as an Offspring song almost came in and Xander started to sing. "I wanna talk to you guys."   
  
Buffy turned it off and looked at Cordelia. "What's up?"   
  
"I, um....need to tell you guys something."   
  
"You already said that." Buffy said. She glanced at Xander and noticed he was leaning back against the seat, a patient look on his face. Buffy immediately decided that he already knew what Cordy was about to say.  
  
"I....before I go any further, this is between the three of us, okay?"   
  
"Of course," Buffy said. Cordy pulled over on the side of the freeway and started to cry.   
  
"Cor, what is it?" Buffy asked. She was unsure if she should put an arm around her or not, so she just waited.   
  
She sniffled and looked at her. "It's just that my dad is a lying asshole. I've always known that he lies, but this time, he's been lying to us. My mom and I. He didn't ever claim any of the money he's made and the IRS caught up with him. We lost everything. My parents are living in a tiny apartment, and this is the only car I could get. We're borrowing it from my grandmother and I had to fight like Hell to get it tonight. It's kinda hard when both your parents want it so they can go to the bar and drink themselves silly."   
  
"Cordelia, I had no idea." Buffy said quietly.   
  
"It gets worse. Both of my parents are working shitty jobs to try and pay off their bills, though I doubt that'll ever happen, and now, I can't go to FIDM. Yep, I got in. I was well on my way to being Cordelia Chase, fashion designer. Eat your heart on Nicole Miller, here I come. Only now....I can't do anything now." she snifled and wiped the hair out of her eyes. "I'm moving to LA. My plane leaves tonight."   
  
"Why?" Xander asked.   
  
"LA?" Buffy looked surprised. "Why LA?"   
  
"I wanna act. Maybe I can start out acting and get into design, that would be good too. Maybe I could even make enough to afford to go to FIDM."   
  
"We'll miss you Cordy." Xander said sadly.   
  
"I can't believe it." Buffy said. "When do you leave?"   
  
"I've got a midnight flight out. Daddy already had it booked, so..."   
  
"Midnight." Xander repeated. He looked at his watch. "It's ten now."   
  
"Come with me to the airport. You guys can take the car back to my mom tomorrow."   
  
"Okay," Buffy agreed.   
  
Xander reached forward and stroked her hair. "I can't believe you won't be here when I wake up tomorrow."   
  
"Me neither." Cordy admitted.   
  
  
*****   
  
  
It was four a.m. when Buffy finally found herself alone. She'd gone on a patrol with Xan after Cordy's plane left and she'd let him cry on her shoulder for hours. She had him drop her off and keep the car since she didn't trust herself driving it. After she'd watched him go, she started walking towards the mansion. She needed to see it one last time, even though Angel was long gone.   
  
She entered and looked around. The rubble from her fight with Angel's demon was still there, scattered along the floor.   
  
She knelt down and picked up a piece of wood from the table and put it in her bag. She wanted something to put under her bed, something to hold when the nights got too long and she needed him. Something to touch when she couldn't touch him. Something to pretend to take his place of watching over her while she sleeps.   
  
She took one last look at the room and headed for his bedroom. Angel had known she would come, so he left a single rose and his dogtags on the bed for her. He'd kissed the petals of the flower before leaving.   
  
"Angel," she said softly, feeling his presence all over. She put the necklace on and laid on his bed, taking the rose in her hands.   
  
Buffy fell asleep there, knowing that when she woke up she'd have to pretend as though he'd never been a part of her life. That was the only way she could go on without slipping away and dying.   
  
"Goodbye Angel," she whispered into the sheets. "Goodbye."  



End file.
